Quantitative studies on the antagonism by naloxone of some narcotic and narcotic-antagonist analgesics

Opiate receptors for behavioral analgesia resemble those related to the depression of spinal nociceptive neurons

With naloxone as antagonist, a dose-ratio analysis of the depression by morphine of nociceptive neurons in the spinal cord reveals that this opiate depression of single unit activity has the same pharmacological properties as observed with morphine analgesia. This suggests that the opiate receptor, mediating the observed cellular depression, and those mediating analgesia are presumably the same.

Effects of morphine and two enzyme resistant enkephalins on schedule-controlled responding in the rat

Water-deprived rats to respond for access to a water-filled dipper under a 20 response fixed-ratio schedule. After training, the rats were each implanted with a lateral ventricle cannula and the effects of intraventricular injection of morphine, (N-methyl-tyrosyl)1-des COOH-Norleucyl5-Enkephalin, and (D-Ala)2 -(des COOH-Norleucyl)5-Enkephalin were determined. All three compounds produced dose-related decreases in FR20 responding. Morphine was about 5 times more potent than either of the two peptides. Naloxone (1.0 mg/kg, SC) antagonized the response-rate decreasing effects of intraventricular morphine and the two opiate peptides.

Effect of intracerebroventricular administration of morphine upon intestinal motility in rat and its antagonism with naloxone

Morphine, intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) or intraperitoneally (i.p.) administered to rats, inhibited intestinal propulsion as tested by a charcoal meal. Such an inhibition was shown to be linearly related to the log of administered doses for both routes of administration and the two linear regressions are parallel, so that morphine was calculated to be 206 times more potent when administered i.c.v. than i.p. A dose of morphine fully active by the i.c.v. route was completely inactive when injected by the i.v., i.p., i.m. and s.c. routes. Naloxone, administered i.c.v., blocked the antipropulsive effect of morphine i.c.v. or i.p. The pA2 of naloxone versus morphine, both administered i.c.v. was determined and calculated to be 7.14 (6.76-7.62).

Antagonism of fentanyl with naloxone during N2O+O2+ halothane anaesthesia

To investigate the antagonistic effect of naloxone on fentanyl-induced respiratory depression, 55 patients (randomly divided into various study and control groups were studied during nitrous-oxide-oxygen-halothane anaesthesia. Respiratory depression after 0.1 mg of fentanyl was totally reversed by 10 microgram/kg of naloxone, measured as 100% restoration of spontaneous respiration, normal minute volume and end-tidal CO2, while 15 microgram/kg of naloxone was needed to antagonize 0.2 mg of fentanyl. The respective control groups remained apnoeic. If no fentanyl had previously been administered, there was no difference in the respiratory behaviour of naloxone-treated and control patients, which indicates that no unspecific analeptic effect of naloxone could be demonstrated. The circulatory changes after fentanyl were nearly reversed by naloxone, as has been found earlier with other narcotics. Recovery from anaesthesia was scored from 0 to 10 (using a modification of Apgar scores for newborns), and somewhat higher mean scores were obtained with the naloxone-treated patients than with their controls. However, higher postoperative pain scores were recorded in these patients as well as a higher incidence of nausea and vomiting. The study demonstrates the dose-relationships of fetanyl and naloxone for estimation of total antagonism; however, the use of naloxone for partial antagonism at the termination of anaesthesia cannot be based on these findings.

A dose ratio comparison of the interaction between morphine and cyclazocine with naloxone in rhesus monkeys on the shock titration task

Dose-response curves for morphine (0.5-20 mg/kg) were obtained in 4 rhesus monkeys performing the discrete trials shock titration task. Naloxone (5-500 microgram/kg) uniformly produced a dose dependent, parallel shift of the morphine dose-response curves to right. Plots for the 4 animals of the Log (dose ratio--1) versus --Log (naloxone) revealed that the line had a slope of -0.96. The value of the pA2 was 7.2. Similar experiments were carried out in two rhesus monkeys using cyclazocine. Naloxone (50-1000 microgram) similarly produced a rightward dose dependent, parallel shift of the cyclazocine dose response curves. Unlike the results obtained with morphine, the pA2 for naloxone obtained with cyclazocine was 6.3 and the slope of the dose ratio line was -1.6.

Interactions between naloxone and narcotic analgesics under three schedules that induce polydipsia

A pattern of schedule-induced polydipsia was maintained in rats by a fixed-time schedule where food pellets were presented every 90 sec, a fixed-interval schedule where licking the drinking tube produced pellets every 90 sec, or a fixed-interval schedule where lever presses produced pellets every 90 sec. Under all 3 schedules, injections of morphine, methadone, etonitazene and meperidine generally decreased licking rates and amounts of water consumed, as well as rates of lever-pressing under the schedules where lever presses were required. Naloxone (1 mg/kg) almost completely blocked the effects of morphine and etonitazene, but the effects of methadone sometimes were blocked to a lesser degree. Small increases in the rate of licking and amount of water consumed after the lowest dose of meperidine under the schedule requiring lever-presses were blocked by naloxone, but the higher doses of meperidine that decreased licking, lever-pressing and amount of water consumed under the three schedules were not blocked by naloxone. These data suggest that there are important differences in the ability of naloxone to antagonize the behavioral effects of different narcotic analgesics.

Morphine analgesia and the bulbospinal noradrenergic system: increase in the concentration of normetanephrine in the spinal cord of the rat caused by analgesics

1 Administration of an analgesic dose (10 mg/kg, s.c.) of morphine increased the concentration of a noradrenaline metabolite, normetanephrine (NM) in the spinal cord of normal rats. The time course of the change in the NM concentration corresponded approximately to that of the morphine analgesia. The concentration of noradrenaline was not affected.2 A similar effect on the NM concentration was also observed after the administration of pentazocine (30 mg/kg, s.c.) and nalorphine (20 mg/kg, s.c.).3 The NM increasing effect of morphine, pentazocine and nalorphine was found in the dorsal half of the spinal cord but not in the ventral half.4 The increase in the concentration of NM induced by morphine, pentazocine or nalorphine was completely suppressed by naloxone (1 mg/kg, s.c.) given 5 min before the administration of these drugs.5 When the spinal cord was transected at C1, the NM increasing effect of morphine disappeared, yet when the brain stem was transected at the inter-collicular level, the effect remained.6 In morphine-tolerant rats, the concentration of NM in the spinal cord was almost the same as that observed in normal rats, but the increase in the concentration of NM in the spinal cord after the acute administration of morphine did not take place.7 The NM concentration in the spinal cord of normal rats was not modified by aminopyrine (75 mg/kg, s.c.), chlorpromazine (10 mg/kg, s.c.), mephenesin (100 mg/kg, i.p.) or naloxone (25 mg/kg, s.c.).8 The possible relation between morphine analgesia and the descending noradrenergic neurones in the spinal cord of rats is discussed.

Studies on the receptors involved in the action of the various agents in the phenylbenzoquinone analgesic assay in mice

1. Tolerance to the activity of several narcotic analgesics (morphine, levorphanol, and methadone) and several narcotic-antagonist analgesics (pentazocine, cyclazocine, and nalorphine) was studied in the mouse phenylbenzoquinone stretching test. Virtually complete tolerance was induced by chronic treatment with each of the narcotic agents, while no apparent tolerance was induced by the narcotic antagonists.2. In morphine-tolerant mice there was a high degree of cross-tolerance to the effects of not only the other narcotic drugs but also to those of the narcotic antagonists, acetylsalicylic acid, and physostigmine.3. The effects of morphine and pentazocine were antagonized by naloxone but not by atropine, while the effects of physostigmine were antagonized by atropine but not by naloxone. Neither atropine nor naloxone antagonized the effect of acetylsalicylic acid.4. The results of the tolerance study suggest that there is a fundamental difference in the consequences of receptor interaction for the narcotic and the narcotic-antagonist analgesics. Morphine-tolerant mice exhibit cross-tolerance non-specifically. The selectivity of naloxone and atropine differentiates the narcotic and narcotic-analgesics from the other two agents used in this analgesic test.